Teaching Demigods of Camp Half-Blood Part 1
James woke up early, something he rarely did, even when he goes to the mortal school during the rest of the year. No one questioned the uncommon behaviour. In fact, every single camper wakes up as early as possible, so they will not be late for the brat's teaching.
He could remember the conversation between the counsellors and the son of Poseidon had yesterday.
-Flashback-
"What do you mean to teach us? Everything you can do comes from the natural-born powers you have and blessings," Matthew said, confused and a bit insulted by the son of Poseidon's proclamation of teaching them.
Percy didn't say anything, just silently asking the three other demigods that didn't participate in the fight, the trio that beat them in the capture the flag game a week before, to come to his side. They did without any hesitation.
"I trained this lot for 2 months and they can beat you bunch easily, and they hold back, only using about 50 to 70% of their powers," The fact seemed to make them think, but some still refused to believe it.
"Then how come it took you so long to defeat us?" Jessica questioned. One that seems to make him smile in amusement.
"Are you thinking that I used all my powers? Because I'm not even trying too hard. If my students used more than half of their power, then I barely used a tenth of it, the most I used is when I made the ground ripple and that huge ice wall," the boy said before in a display of power, snapped his finger.
The action caused the huge ice to break into pieces before floating above the ground and dissipating into thin air. The powerplay caused the demigods to drop their jaws in awe. "Now you see the difference in power?" the question brought them back to reality.
"But what is able to do that have to do with teaching us?" Kerry asked. Percy, instead of answering just pointed to Annabeth and Luke.
"What do they have to do with you?" the question was answered when Luke turned invisible and Annabeth controlled the thread with pinpoint accuracy.
"I simply help them able to use the domain of their godly parents, even the one that is vague and didn't seem to help. I can help you mould your power from your parent's domain. All you need to do is accept my teaching," his offer was thrown for the second time, this time, all of them took it.
-Flashback ended-
Remembering that pump him up even more. He can't wait for the teaching to begin.
He can't wait for the teaching to end.
The campers currently sitting in front of the arena, the space there enough to accommodate about 100 demigods. They currently listening to Percy's instructions on how to become stronger, something they all wished. Except for the Aphrodite Cabin. How did the son of Poseidon get them to join it he wondered?
"The first part is for you to meditate," the instruction sounded more like a death sentence, not just for him, but for other demigods as well. Meditation and ADHD kids don't mix well, something their 'teacher' clearly didn't know.
"Percy, ADHD and demigods don't mix well," thankfully Matt decided to tell him about that.
He merely looked at them with amusement, "And what about them?" he asked, pointing out to the trio, who currently meditating?!
"Meditation is very hard for a demigod, I can attest to that, but the result will help you greatly," he continued on, seemingly used to what happened, which is very likely.
"So, meditation will help us use our godly parent domains," the son of Athena concluded. Thank you for the explanation, even though that means they have to do it! "How?" No, now he will have to explain, you idiot!
The counsellor of Athena Cabin seemed to not notice James's anger. In fact, every single person from Athena Cabin placed close attention on whatever their teacher is about to say.
"The concept is actually really vague. The best way to describe is by concentrating on the spiritual level, you can 'see' the domains of your godly parents and used it," Percy explained, making air quotes as he said 'see'.
"From there, you can slowly control the domains. In my case, I picture every single domain in the form of a lake, when I first used them, I stirred up the lake. Later, when I get better control, I can move the lake the way I wanted," the explanation seemed interesting, though it could be better. Then again, they were taught by a kid, so it makes sense.
"Wait, you said in your case. What about others? Do they have different things when they picture the domains?" this time Kerry asked. The head counsellor of Demeter Cabin had a point. Do the trio picture other things?
"Yuppp. Luke pictured a house; Thalia pictured clouds and Annabeth pictured a book." Apparently, the thing they can picture varied. "It's likely the thing you pictured related to your godly parents' domain."
"Alright, I want all of you to start meditating. You should sit upright and take a deep breath. After that close your eyes and focus your attention on your body. Then slowly let your mind wander. When you reach this step, you can sense the spiritual part of your mind. Don't do anything drastic yet, just probe it a bit. It will take some time before you can visualise whatever you used to picture the domains. This is just the first day so not being able to visualise it is normal,"
His advice was heard by everyone, and they took it to heart. But before anyone get to a sitting position, their teacher stopped them.
"While not being able to visualise it is normal, moving while meditating is not, and will be punished. For the small fidget, I will prod you with 'Little Stick', if you made any big movement, I'll use 'Big Stick', and if you did it continuously or do it on purpose, I'll use the 'Huge Stick'"
Unfortunately, the campers could not see the trio. If not, they would think something wrong with the way their eyes opened and they shook in terror. One foolish camper, in the honest and true opinion of the three demigods, asked,
"What's the Little, Big and Huge Stick?" the question was answered with a terrifying laugh from the son of Poseidon.
"I thought you never asked," he said before punching through the ground and grabbing a rock staff, the same height and thickness as regular staff. "This is 'Little Stick'" he dropped it to the ground before dragging another one, this time the thickness is similar to steel beam used in construction. "This is Big Stick'"
The campers already sweating buckets from the size of 'Big Stick' when Percy punched the ground with both his hands, opening it up like a door, before a rock with a smooth surface slowly rose from it, it as thick as a tree's trunk. When it finally stopped rising, he lifted it, some struggle shown on his arms, before placing it next to the other 'Sticks'. "This is 'Huge Stick'. Any other question?"
No one said anything, or to be accurate, no one dared to say anything, all too horrified by the sheer size of the 'Sticks' to comprehend the questions. Simultaneously, the campers swallowed their saliva, before looking at the 'demon' in front of them.
"I will repeat again, any small movements will be met with a prodding from 'Little Stick', it will become a smacking if it continues. The big movement will be greeted by a smack from 'Big Stick' and if you continue to do it, or just move to disturb others, you'll get the 'Huge Stick'." The campers just nodded, not believing their mouth to not say something they will definitely regret.
"Good. Then go to any places you want, just be in this area. Just bear with the grass and rocks, though if there is any yoga mat, you can use those. Remember my instruction and you will be fine. If you had any questions, just raise your hand and I will be there. Now go." The campers scrambled to find a place to meditate under the watchful eyes of the son of Poseidon.
The campers rubbed their bruised bodies, wincing from the pain. Meanwhile, the cause of said bruised bodies just watched them. Deciding to be merciful, he lifted all of them with Hydro Tendril before dropping them into the healing pool.
"Aaaahhhhh! It's so cold!" Not too merciful though. Can't have them used to relatively comfortable healing techniques. Out there, if they got injured bad enough, the healing process will be painful. Better get them used to horrible conditions. And the sound of their screams and the curses and death threats were thrown at him are music to his ears. That too.
The first three students looked at the campers with pity. They were already used to their teacher's treatment. While they pity them, they also couldn't help but laugh at their predicament. It's as people say, if the horrible thing that happened to you happened to anybody else, you will laugh at them too. At least, based on what they know. Could be just for them.
After the cursing stopped, the campers slowly let out sighs of relief as their bruises swell down. The pool healing properties are almost as good as ambrosia and nectar. Too bad it has the same temperature as the Poles.
"So, what next teacher?" Percy had asked them to either call him teacher or Percy the night before. They all planned to call him by his name but decided to change it. To show respect of course. It clearly had nothing to do with the 'Sticks trio'. Definitely not.
"Get some lunch and rest for now. If you have any questions, you can come to find me. I will be at the lake." As he finished, he vanished into water droplets.
The campers could only watch in awe. He was so powerful for someone so young. They wondered how he got to that level.
"Annabeth, do you know how Percy become so powerful?" the head counsellor of Athena Cabin asked his current youngest sister.
The daughter of Athena was about to answer when Thalia closed her mouth with her hands. "Sorry, but it is better if you asked Percy himself. He probably used it to make comparisons and tell you of his early days when he discovered Celestial energy." The daughter of Zeus said before dragging the blonde girl to their spots.
She stopped when Billy, counsellor of Hermes Cabin exclaimed, "Celestial energy?" The black-haired girl widened her eyes when the campers looked at her questioningly.
"He didn't tell you about Celestial energy yet?" she questioned incredulously, on to froze when the rest nodded. She groaned while putting her hand on her forehead.
"I want to tell you; except I don't really know how to explain it. Even Percy had trouble explaining it. What you should know though, it will help you become stronger," Thalia said, before Luke continued, "Also, if we tell you before Percy did, he will come after our heads," "Yeah, that too."
The campers wanted to ask them more questions, but the way they shivered stopped them from doing anything they might regret later. Deciding to take the son of Poseidon order, the campers split up, some going to the dining pavilion, some to their cabins to take a nap.
Overall, the campers took their time to rest, while waiting for their training to continue. It will be until 3 in the afternoon before Percy called them for their evening training.
Currently, everyone standing in front of the lake, waiting for their teacher to arrive. They are also in their swimsuit, much to their confusion. They wanted to ask the necessity of it, but refrained themselves, fearing the 'Sticks of Death and Doom', patented by them in the afternoon.
Suddenly, the water slowly rises from the lake, turning into the shape of a boy, before their teacher, flesh and bone, not water, burst from it. He looked at them with a smile on his face. Yet, it didn't put them at ease. In fact, the smile brought terror to their heart.
They didn't know why, just that the smile is somehow both malicious and kind. How is that even possible?! They silently watched their teacher walk on the water, creating platforms made out of ice, enough for every camper.
"Now, we will be having physical training. For today, we will train your situational awareness and reflexes. Now, I want everyone to get on a platform," when he finished speaking, the campers started clambering for a platform. It took a while, but soon, each platform has a camper on it.
"This evening, we will be having an exercise called 'Dodge the Water Bullet'." As he said that, spheres of water appeared around the demigods, staying out of the platform but still surrounding the starting to get worried demigods.
"This sphere," Percy pointed to the one floating on his palm, "can tears flesh and breaks bone if I wish to," To prove his words, he made a finger gun before making a shooting motion with his hand, the ball moved at the speed of a bullet and tore a plank and breaks a rock to pieces.
At the demonstration, every single camper looked at the orbs in fear. At that, their teacher continued, "Don't worry, the water around you is set so it will cause great pain, but not enough to turn you into mincemeat," he ignored the relief sighs coming from his student.
"It will not kill you, but it will make you hurt, a lot, so make sure to avoid it as best as you can," with his pieces said, Percy grabbed a whistle from his pocket before placing it near his mouth. The demigods, taking it as a sign that he will start the training, began to make as much preparation as they can.
Some (Athena's children and smart demigods in general) observe the whereabouts of the water orbs, predicting their possible movements. Some (Ares's children and combat-oriented demigods in general) started to shift their stances, for avoiding the water.
Unfortunately for them, their teacher showed how cunning he is. "Oh, and even when you get beaten till you can't move on the platform, the water will still attack you. It only stops when you throw yourself into the lake. If not, I will think you still wanted to join the training,"
The new info surprised the demigods, and before they could recover or do anything to settle it, the whistle was blown. At that moment, orbs of water turned into Hydro Bullet, ready to impact the slow and unsuspecting demigod.
The number of demigods started to drop like flies, the titbit of information that he withholds and told just before the whistles threw all of them off guard. However, they were still some that remained on top. It shows how capable the demigods still standing are.
Of the ones that still remain are the head counsellors, unsurprisingly, a combination of people from every cabin with demigods in it, with the exception of children of Aphrodite, who either jumped into the lake to avoid the Hydro Bullet or the one that got sent into the lake by an orb. Surprisingly, the counsellor still remained but if that will continue is anyone's guess.
Still, there were only 40 out of 100 demigods. He maintained the rate of fire of the water orbs for the one still standing, before using Hydro Tendril to grab the one that fell into the water and placed them onto the platform.
A couple of children of Aphrodite, the one who jumped first into the lake tried to do the same thing they did previously but stopped by a layer of ice, slamming headfirst into it. A girl yelled, "Why did you bring us back and trapped us after we jumped into the lake?!"
Percy looked at them with a glare. "When I said that, I meant for someone that already tired and can't go on anymore, not someone who doesn't want to train. Now, either you tried to join the exercise, or you can join with the sharks down there,"
"Sharks?" the question was answered immediately when a shark made out of water jumped out of the water, before diving back in. The terrified look on every demigod will be forever remembered by Percy.
"Does anyone else want to go in right now?" the campers shook their head. Taking that as their answer, he continued the exercise while dropping the ice wall.
To his surprise, no one fell into the water just yet, even the one with their knees on the ground dodged the best they can. Maybe the threat of sharks worked too perfectly. Maybe he should stop that … Nah.
As times go on, someone started to fell into the water, this time Percy let them stay, even willing the water to heal the fallen person. As more people joined the pool party, he willed the water to heal them.
When they were completely healed or they don't suffer too great of injury, he sent his sharks to bring them back to the platform. The dumbstruck look the others have when a shark has a demigod in its mouth before throwing them back on the platform. Of course, their surprise resulted in them being hit by his water orbs.
In two hours, the number of demigods on the platform dwindled to only a single digit. One of the remaining ones is the head counsellors of Ares, Athena, Hermes and Apollo Cabin, and a child of Ares, Athena and Hermes each, the rest already in the water, being healed.
Deciding they already reached their limits, Percy stopped the orbs, making all of them disappear. The remaining demigods looked around them, trying to find anything before realizing there is no more orbs and dropped their guard, some even fell on their butt while trying to catch their breaths.
He looked at them before snapping his finger, the action caused the ice to disappear. The seven demigods fell into the water, shock plastered on their faces before they sighed in relief, the water relieving and healing the bruises they suffered from the exercise.
"I let you spend some time in the water to heal you. After you get healed, you should take a shower, dinner and rest for a bit. Tonight, I will explain everything more clearly. If you have any questions asked them tonight." As he said that, the water started to send the healed campers to the shore.
Soon, every single demigod was sent to the shore of the camp with the exception of the counsellors. He withholds them for a reason. He looked at them with a calm look. He said, "You must be wondering why I don't send you back yet."
When all of them nodded, he continued, "To tell you the truth, I wanted to make a class for one cabin at one time or create something like a class group to teach everyone." The counsellors looked at each other, not knowing what to say at the admission.
Thankfully, Matthew decided to ask, "Then why didn't you do that? It will be easier and more systematic," he couldn't understand why the boy didn't do that. If he did, then teaching the camper will be more manageable. He couldn't help but be impressed by the son of Poseidon's ability to teach so many people at once.
"It's not that easy, how will I properly do that? If I teach according to the cabins, then it will be harder to teach Hermes cabin because of their number, not to mention that Dionysus Cabin only has a single person, no offence," the last one was directed to Stephan who accepted it.
"If I tried to separate them, how will I separate them. I could try to separate them according to their speciality or just by a draw, but each way has their own weakness so that is a no go either," he continued ranting, the counsellors dutifully listened to him.
"So, the best course of action will be teaching all of the campers at once. It will not be forever though. After I teach the basics to you, I will split all of you according to groups. How I split the groups will depend on what I think is better," the counsellors couldn't help but agreed with the argument.
"Besides, after teaching the basics, I will not have anything to teach you," his words surprised the counsellors, head counsellors of Hephaestus Cabin, Caleb asked, "What do you mean teacher?" the respect he had for the young boy so great that he called him teacher subconsciously.
"Think about it this way, do you think I can compete with a child of Hephaestus in a forging contest?" listening to that, the counsellors shook their heads. "I thought so, the same thing could be applied with how I'm teaching you,"
Looking at the confused expression on his students, Percy explained it more clearly, "How can you expect someone who is the demigod of one god to know about the abilities of a demigod of another god. It's like you expecting a farmer to teach a blacksmith how to forge stuff. It's ridiculous."
"So, how do you expect to teach us considering our different parentage?" Matt questioned, the others silently agreeing with him.
"As I tell you, I will not teach you the in-depth of your inherited abilities from your godly, I will slowly guide you so you can discover what you can do, it's similar to how mortal invent stuff like cars and electricity, the method is for you to learn and discover it yourself while I guide you through the process." His explanation seems to be working as the counsellors nodded in agreement. However, he had to make sure they understand.
"And care to explain what you understand in your own words?" the sudden quiz threw all of them off-guard, though the answer came from an unlikely source.
"It's like you a talent scout, trying to discover the hidden abilities of a person so they can become better," while the person answering the question is unexpected, the answer she came up with suited her. As expected of Leslie, the head counsellors of Aphrodite Cabin.
He smiled at the rather apt comparison, "Good way to describe it. Yes, my job after teaching and making sure you are able to do the basics is to guide you in the way to use your hidden demigod abilities, the power you never thought you had, to surface."
"So, after you taught us the basics, you let us do our own methods to improve our inherent abilities?" Matt asked, starting to understand the method the son of Poseidon used to teach them.
"Close. I will also guide you, teaching you how to use your power with my experience, slowly making you stronger." At that, the counsellors started to nod again, a regular occurrence for today.
"Think about it like a tree," as he said that, he threw a seed and made it grow to a tree with one big branch, three medium-sized ones, and several that just sprouted out. "The big branch is my understanding of my power, the three is for the trio, and the rest is all of you, you guys didn't start learning about it yet, so the branches don't grow for now."
"When you started learning and practising your power, the branch will grow with you," one branch started to grow, following Percy's speech. "As you learned and used your power to the top, the branch will grow too. I will put it at the centre of the cabins, near the hearth to show your growth,"
"So, you planned to create it to show our growth?" Kerry, head counsellor of Demeter Cabin asked.
"No, I wanted to show you so you can see the difference, but when I have done making it, I think it better used instead of just putting it somewhere else," the nonchalant way he said that he didn't plan it, and do it just on a whim, nearly made them tripped and having second thought about him as their teacher. They put it as being a kid with no teaching experience to reason with it.
"Now of you go, get your siblings ready for our QA session for tonight," he made a shooing motion, creating small waves to bring the group to the shore. Amused by the boy's antics, they shook their heads and went to the cabin, preparing their siblings for tonight.
After dinner, the demigods, the trio included, sat around the campfire. They watched as Percy sat near the fire. He snapped his finger, fires rise from the campfire, the size of fireflies before it headed toward the gathered campers, lighting up the area.
He stood up before starting to talk, "Now, I'm going to explain briefly the reason we doing the different training today. The meditation is done so you can concentrate and begin to concentrate, allowing you to realize your true powers from your godly parents and used them without any problems.
The training for the afternoon is physical exercise, something that will help your strength, agility, speed, reflexes, endurance, toughness and so on. The 'avoiding the bullets' training is to train your reflexes and increase your endurance and toughness.
For the night, we doing something to help make you smarter, or at least think first before fighting a monster. Tonight, we going to go through your godly parents' domains. Talk about it among yourself and think about how you can use their domains to make you stronger. If there is no question, you can begin now."
As he finished his speech, the chattering began. He watched as the Hermes and Athena Cabin counsellors headed toward the trio, talking to their siblings. As the campers started to discuss with themselves, Percy sat down, watching them talking. The discussion among them will help them learn what they could do and slowly use it.
He watched them for 10 minutes before a daughter of Demeter walked to him. "Teacher, I wanted to ask how to control on behalf of my siblings how to control plant better," she said.
Percy levitated a seed before making it grow, "To control the plant, you need to guide it, you can't force them to grow like that, you need to help them grow by using your energy to help them. That is the gist of it. For how to control the energy, that will be what we learned in the future class, all of you don't reach the level necessary for that kind of advanced stuff yet."
The girl nodded before heading towards Demeter's kids' group. He decided to look at the other cabins, see what they doing. He watched as the Athena Cabin discuss with themselves, talking quickly, ideas being thrown from the group.
He witnessed the Ares Cabin yelling competition, the children of Ares talked loudly yet they somehow didn't bother the others, something he had a hand in doing. He, unfortunately, also listened to the Aphrodite Cabin gossiping. Thankfully, for his already low sanity level, they also talked about their mother's domains, though it always goes back to gossip somehow.
He smiled at the scene in front of him, the peaceful scene where the demigods could do whatever they wanted without worries of threat on their lives. He drinks hot cocoa while watching them, bickered and discussed with each other.
He watched some demigods from different cabins intermingled with each other, talking about possible combinations using their possible powers. He shook his head, that kind of talk should be after they learn their full abilities. He let them though, as it will be a good thinking exercise.
The gathered demigods talked for almost an hour when he decided to put an end to the activity. While stopping the intense discussion, especially between the 2 war gods' cabins, is kind of foolish, the campers need to rest so they are ready for tomorrow's training.
He clapped his hands, creating a loud shockwave. After the demigods seemed to get over their surprise, he said loudly," This is all for tonight. You should go to your cabins and get some rest. But if you had any question for, tonight ask now, and I will answer it."
After he said that, some hands rise up, like a bunch of students trying to get their teacher's attention. He picked randomly, answering the questions the best he could. Some are pretty straightforward, like what they going to do tomorrow, while some are a bit personal, like what monsters he already killed.
It's the last question that surprised him the most, pushing his plan forward by a lot. A question asked by a daughter of Ares.
"Teacher, what is Celestial energy?"